Chapter 12
"Wow, the reporters are no joke, huh, Team Leader?"
On the road in front of Gangjung Police Station.
A van stopped at a traffic light.
Inside the van were members of the Violent Crimes Unit 3 and the arrested Kim Gab-du.
Han Geon-woo, a police officer sitting in the driver's seat, looked at the crowd of reporters gathered at the entrance of Gangjung Station and then at Team Leader Gu Jin-gu.
"It’ll take at least an hour to get from the parking lot to the entrance..."
This was a case that had captured the public's attention.
The interest in Gangjung Station's Violent Crimes Unit 3, which was handling the case, was also immense.
Team Leader Gu Jin-gu scratched his head as he watched the reporters bustling around with their cameras.
The fact that Kim Gab-du had been arrested hadn’t been revealed yet.
Moreover, since it was an emergency arrest, they hadn’t even obtained a search warrant.
If it became known that Kim Gab-du was the suspect, crowds would gather around his house, and controlling the situation would become difficult.
"Should we go through the back gate?"
At that moment, Ju-won asked Team Leader Gu.
"Yeah, that might be better."
"Then we’ll head to the back gate."
The van headed toward the quieter back gate instead of the main entrance.
Creak— Clank!
The van door opened, and Ju-won and Sergeant Kim Seok-ho held Kim Gab-du, who had a jacket draped over his face, on either side.
"Officer Han, go park the car!"
"Yes, sir!"
Officer Han drove the van to the parking lot, while Team Leader Gu quietly walked ahead of the three.
As they were sneaking into Gangjung Station...
"Ah, seriously. I’m a reporter with access to Gangjung Station, so why do I have to use the bathroom in the opposite building? Ugh, reporters are so pushy, I tell you."
A young man wearing a press pass stopped in his tracks.
"What’s this? Team Leader Gu Jin-gu of Violent Crimes Unit 3?"
His gaze fell on Team Leader Gu, Ju-won, and Sergeant Kim escorting Kim Gab-du.
"No way, is that the suspect in the elementary school teacher murder case? Did they already catch him?"
The reporter’s eyes widened, and he quickly grabbed the camera hanging around his neck.
"It wasn’t me! I didn’t do it!"
Interrogation room.
Kim Gab-du, with his handcuffed hands banging on the table, was being coldly stared at by Sergeant Kim Seok-ho.
"I admit I made that pickaxe, but I never killed anyone with it! I lost it once before I went to prison, and whoever took it must be the real culprit!"
"You swung a knife?"
"That’s why I said it wasn’t me... What?"
Kim Gab-du, who had been spewing resentful anger, suddenly stopped talking.
"A knife at a police officer? That’s an additional charge of obstructing official duties."
Sergeant Kim Seok-ho coldly typed on the laptop on the desk.
"You damn pig! Hey! Can’t you hear me?!"
"Jjapsae (a derogatory term for police)?"
At Kim Gab-du's shout, Officer Kim Seok-ho's gaze slowly turned towards him.
His eyes were filled with a murderous aura.
Even Kim Gab-du, who was used to being interrogated as if it were a daily routine, flinched at the intensity.
"You brutally killed someone and ran away, and now you're acting like this?"
Officer Kim Seok-ho placed a notebook and photos of a pickaxe on the table.
"Kim Gab-du, it's all out now. You approached the victim, who was your neighbor at the time, and offered them drugs, telling them to enjoy their youth. Out of curiosity, the victim tried the drugs and got addicted. Eventually, they got involved with you, who was a drug courier at the time. The victim, who was short on money, even signed a promissory note with you."
"What... what kind of nonsense are you spouting...?"
"Nonsense? Bloodstains were found on the victim's notebook that you had. The forensic lab will soon confirm that the DNA matches the victim's."
"I... I just found that..."
"And we've already heard from the victim's parents that they suspected the victim was using drugs at the time."
"......"
"They said they couldn't say anything back then because they were afraid of retaliation."
"Damn it..."
Kim Gab-du's face twisted.
He had only been out of prison for a short while.
The thought of going back made it hard to breathe.
As Kim Gab-du was being handed another dose of hell by Officer Kim Seok-ho,
in the monitoring room.
"Wow, Officer Kim, your interrogation skills have always been impressive since you were a rookie. You haven't lost your touch."
Team Leader Gu Jin-gu, who was watching Officer Kim Seok-ho through the monitor, couldn't help but express his admiration.
"That look in his eyes, wow~"
Then, Joo-won, sitting next to him, spoke up.
"Wasn't it that very look that got him transferred from the previous team to the 3rd team after digging into the corruption of the former team leader?"
Team Leader Gu burst out laughing.
"That's right. Well, he's mellowed out a lot since then. But it's good to see that look in his eyes again after so long."
Nodding, Team Leader Gu looked at Joo-won.
"By the way, don't you sometimes see that look in Inspector Lee's eyes too? Although it's more like jealousy than the look of a cop catching a criminal."
Joo-wan awkwardly smiled.
"Yes, but it's okay."
"Good. Inspector Lee should understand."
As Joo-wan nodded, Terra's voice echoed in his head.
[Just think of him as a son of a bitch instead.]
'Shut up.'
At that moment,
the door to the monitoring room burst open, and Officer Han Geon-woo rushed in.
"Team Leader, Inspector! Take a look at this."
Officer Han handed over the phone he was holding.
On the phone, an interview with the current head of the regional investigation team was playing.
It was Chief Heo Young-sam, who was the team leader in charge of the elementary school teacher murder case and is now the head of the regional investigation team.
-"Actually, I believe the perpetrator is already dead."
-"Why do you think so, Chief Heo?"
-"Our team wasn't just any ordinary team. We were quite experienced..."
The Avengers? Haha. It's just a gathering of us Langdeuls. Even a team like ours couldn't catch them, so the chances of a local police station's violent crimes unit catching them are slim.
- So, what do you think the police should do in this situation?
- What's important now is to not forget about these unsolved cases and to make sure no new ones are created. It's more crucial to prevent new problems and new victims than to solve existing ones. Honestly, it's a waste of police resources to suddenly focus on these unsolved cases just because they were highlighted on TV once. Even Chief Kang Joong-seo, who ordered the reinvestigation of these unsolved cases, is part of the problem...
Team Leader Gu pressed the power button on his phone, turning off the screen.
The voice of Chief Superintendent Heo Young-sam was no longer heard.
"This guy, I knew he'd be like this."
As Team Leader Gu Jin-gu leaned his head back on the chair and let out a sigh, a police officer asked,
"Why is he acting like this? Even if we can't help each other as fellow police officers..."
"This guy doesn't like us solving cases."
"Huh? Why not?"
"Before we started the investigation, I called to ask if there was any additional information left, or if there was any information only the investigators knew. But he didn't answer. He doesn't like us solving the cases they left unsolved."
Officer Han Geon-woo shook his head in disbelief.
"That's really petty. How can someone like that even be a police officer..."
Even the newly arrived officer found it pitiful.
How could someone like that even hold the rank of chief superintendent? While everyone was thinking this, Juwon spoke up.
"Maybe we should also ask Inspector Oh, who was part of the team back then."
"Ah, Inspector Oh from the unsolved cases task force?"
"Oh, do you know Inspector Oh?"
Team Leader Gu nodded.
"I tried contacting him. But unlike Chief Superintendent Heo from the violent crimes unit, who's busy boasting on TV, Inspector Oh seems to be swamped with work..."
At that moment, Team Leader Gu's phone vibrated.
"Hold on."
Team Leader Gu left the room with the phone to his ear.
"Is it the search warrant for Kim Gab-du's house?"
"That would be great."
Juwon turned his attention back to the monitor room.
The interrogation of Kim Gab-du by Detective Kim Seok-ho was still ongoing.
Then, the door to the monitor room opened again.
This time, it was Chief Kang Joong-seo and Myeong Geon-hyung.
"Chief."
"The warrant is out."
Juwon and Officer Han Geon-woo immediately stood up.
It was the search warrant for Kim Gab-du's house.
"Search Kim Gab-du's house thoroughly. There might be additional evidence or signs of other crimes."
"Yes!"
A case that had been unsolved for 15 years.
The motive, the weapon, and the killer were all unknown.
Now, the case has been solved.
The media was in an uproar.
<...The suspect, Kim Gab-du, had no intent to kill, and...>
It was revealed that the perpetrator had swung a weapon with the intent to threaten after not receiving payment for delivering drugs, and when the victim resisted, he panicked and claimed that he unintentionally killed the victim...
Public opinion was divided. Some were shocked by the fact that the victim had used drugs, while others focused on the police finally solving a 15-year-old cold case. Of course, the spotlight was mostly on the Violent Crimes Unit 3. For a while, the media was filled with stories about how Violent Crimes Unit 3 had resolved the 15-year-old grievance.
[...Although they were the team with the least achievements, they left no room for doubt, uncovering the victim's diary and the homemade weapon used by the perpetrator, drawing the public's attention. Additionally, there were criticisms about the incompetence of Chief Heo Yeong-sam, who had overlooked the drug-related suspicions and closed the case as unsolved at the time...]
In the office of Violent Crimes Unit 3, Juwon was sitting at his desk, scrolling through articles slowly.
["Most cold cases are attributed to poor initial investigations. It seems that the incompetence of Chief Heo Yeong-sam, who was in charge of the case at the time, played a significant role."]
'Yeah, if it weren’t for you, this case would have remained unsolved forever.'
Juwon’s fingers continued to scroll the mouse.
[...One of the officers involved in the case at the time testified that there were suspicions of drug use by the victim of the elementary school teacher murder case, which helped in solving the case... As a result, Chief Heo Yeong-sam, who was in charge of the case at the time and is now the head of the Violent Crimes Unit, is being criticized for his incompetence...]
"Testimony?"
Who could it be?
At that moment, Terra's voice chimed in.
[Congratulations.]
"Huh?"
[It was a coincidence, but you solved a cold case, and thanks to that, the survival of Violent Crimes Unit 3 is now more likely.]
'Well... I guess so.'
[Who do we owe this to?]
The voice, now quite brazen, made Juwon let out a hollow laugh. Could it be that it wants to be praised now, or something like that...
[If you don’t answer, I’ll do it myself. It seems like I contributed a lot to this case.]
This damn AI.
Just as Juwon was laughing, Officer Han Geon-woo approached him with a bright face.
"Lieutenant!"
"Huh?"
"Tonight’s dinner is beef!"
"Oh, really?"
"Yes! Chief Myeong is treating us!"
"Officer Han, let’s go to the restroom first."
"Huh?"
"We need to empty our stomachs!"
"Ah, yes!"
As Officer Han and Juwon excitedly ran to the restroom, at that very moment, on the first floor of the Gangjung Police Station, Team Leader Gu Jin-gu was panting at the entrance, holding a takeout coffee cup.
"Haah, where did they go?"
It seemed like someone was looking for someone as Team Leader Gu glanced around.
"I thought it would be nice to have a meal, so I even brought coffee..."
Then, he took out his cell phone and made a call to someone.
"Hey, Inspector Oh! Where did you go? You even gave a statement, so I should at least buy you coffee... Are you sure it's okay? I feel so bad about this. I might end up looking bad in front of the team leader of the violent crimes division. Alright, take care. I'll treat you to a meal later."
Team Leader Gu Jin-gu hung up the phone.
Then, with a regretful expression, he gulped down the coffee.
"These are the kind of officers we need for interviews, but it's always the wrong guys who get ahead. Tsk!"
As he moved towards Team 3, Team Leader Gu clicked his tongue in frustration.
